Aftershocks
by Rookblonkorules
Summary: Transformers Prime. Post Out of His Head. It's not easy to forget when someone else has been inside your head-especially if that someone else was Megatron. Dedicated to Purplehood.
1. Aftershocks

**A/N** This is a story I started writing a long time ago with the intent for it to be much longer than it actually is (like ten chapters). That didn't work out. I've decided to write it much shorter because I found that the original idea didn't flow well after my second chapter.

This story is dedicated to my awesome friend: Purplehood, because it happens to be her birthday next week.

 **Happy Birthday! :D**

 **Disclaimer** I don't own Transformers, nor do I ever expect to. The writing of this is simply for enjoyment.

 **Chapter One**

Bumblebee lay back against the berth, allowing Ratchet to scan him for any damage sustained during his time spent under Megatron's control. Not that there would be any physical damage. Megatron hadn't done much that would hurt physically him during the time spent inside his head. He'd been too focused on getting what he needed to return to his own body.

He couldn't say the same mentally. Having Megatron inside his head had been a form of torture in and of itself and his mind under the control of the one who had sadistically torn his voice modulator out at Tyger Pax, leaving him forever mute.

He let out a small, involuntary whimper and brought a hand to his throat, remembering all too clearly the agonizing pain that he'd thought would kill him.

The screams, the sparks, Megatron's cold grip around his throat right before he dug his fingers in-it had all been present in his nightmares... made all the more real by Megatron's presence inside his head.

He tried to ignore the sound of Megatron's voice, taunting him with the fact that he was in control of his body, forcing him remember every single moment of his torture at the hands of the Decepticons, taunting him with the fact that he was in control of his body. That he could use him to hurt his friends and there wouldn't be a single thing that Bumblebee would have been able to do to stop him. He would have had to watch as… no. Bumblebee tried to get the thoughts out of his head, but everything continued to play over and over again in his mind. He thought of Optimus, Arcee, Raph… and a slight whimper escaped his damaged modulator.

Megatron _hadn't_ done that. He didn't need to spend his time agonizing over pointless _what-ifs_.

Ratchet's voice cut into his morbid musing and he shifted uncomfortably on the berth, realizing that he had missed the entirety of what the medic was saying.

/What?/ he hummed apologetically, turning his head to see the medic.

The medic's shoulders slumped as he turned to face the scout. "Bumblebee!" he said, exasperated. "Could you at least _try_ to listen when I'm speaking to you!" Bumblebee shook his helm slightly, buzzing out an apology and Ratchet's demeanor softened immediately. "It's okay, Bumblebee," he placed a servo on the mech's shoulder, "you've had it rough these past few cycles. I… shouldn't have snapped at you like that."

Bumblebee let himself ease back with a slightly quivering sigh as he stared mournfully at the Autobot's medic.

"Well, physically, you're undamaged. As for mentally…" he stopped, giving Bumblebee a scrutinizing look and evidently rethinking what he was about to say. When he next spoke, it was with the brusque, bedside manner he always had. "As far as I can see, there is no trace of Megatron left in your psyche." The look he gave Bumblebee, though, showed that he suspected that perhaps it wasn't quite so simple.

Not wanting to talk about his feelings, Bumblebee changed the subject before Ratchet could begin any questioning. /Where are Optimus and Arcee?/ He already knew that Bulkhead had gone to get Miko, Jack and Raf from their school, but had missed hearing about whatever mission Optimus had left for with Arcee.

"They're on a mission," Ratchet began vaguely, before providing the scout with more information. "We detected a trace of energon while you were still unconscious. Optimus and Arcee went to investigate. Bulkhead is getting all three children from school." The medic turned his back on Bumblebee and began to go over whatever reading he had up on the screen.

Bumblebee pushed himself into a sitting position. Shifting his position on the berth, he placed his pedes on the medbay floor and stared at Ratchet. The medic seemed to sense the scout's optics on him. Without waiting for Bumblebee to ask, he gave him an approval. "You may go."

Bumblebee slowly raised himself from the berth, still trying to rid himself of the feeling of being violated he'd had since Megatron had entered his mind. He felt Ratchet's optics bore into him with suspicion once more and he got the feeling that the medic had somehow gleaned that there was something wrong, which Bumblebee wasn't telling him.

The medic didn't question him, however, and simply looked at him doubtfully through slightly narrowed optics, before turning back to the monitor.

Bumblebee left the medbay and, at the same time, Bulkhead rocketed into the base, spinning slightly as he screeched to a halt, his extreme speed likely because of a request of Miko's.

Bulkhead's doors opened and the first person to stumble out was Jack, looking more than a little queasy as he brought a hand up to cover his mouth and swayed a little as he took a step forward. Next came Miko, who bounced out practically overflowing with excitement and energy. "Woo-hoo! That was epic, Bulk! Can we go again?" she shouted. Jack's eyes widened in very obvious dismay at her suggestion, but Bumblebee didn't hear either his or Bulkhead's response.

He didn't need to. Both would be in the negative.

"Hey, Bee." Bumblebee turned his attention to the smallest human, how own charge, Rafael, who trotted forward until he was a few feet away from his pedes, a small smile lighting up his features at the sight of his guardian. Aside from his glasses being slightly crooked, Raf seemed largely unaffected by Bulkhead's high speed. "Ratchet, check you out?"

/Yeah./ He knew the next question before it even came. /I'm fine./

Raf smiled even wider, straightening his glasses. "That's good."

Bumblebee dropped down to one knee, holding out a servo for the small human to climb onto. /Video games?/ he asked.

"Sure, Bee." Raf took another step closer and, suddenly, Bumblebee felt his frame freeze up, his processor flickering back to the memory of Megatron. His own servo closing around Raf's small body, tightening.

The sound of Bulkhead's transformation sequence cut into his thoughts, driving them from his processor, as he raised himself and turned to face his larger teammate. "Bee, you okay?" Bulkhead took a step forward, concern showing in his voice.

Bumblebee noticed Jack and Miko watching him, Jack with forehead creased and Miko with wide-eyed uncertainty. Both looked more than a little… nervous?

Raf was staring up at him, puzzlement showing clearly on his face, but he hadn't moved from where he stood.

He knew they were all remembering.

"Bumblebee?"

Bumblebee refocused his attention towards the smaller human and shook himself mentally. /It's okay. I'm fine./ he reassured him. Raf's face certainly showed that he was reassured, any doubt he may have had fading away and replaced with a half-smile.

"Video games sound good."

Miko was instantly herself again. "I play winner!"

 **A/N** There's going to be one more chapter added to this. In fact, the next chapter is very nearly done. Hopefully, it will be complete and posted within a few days. (Maybe more. I tend to flit from writing to writing, which is why nothing is ever completed.)

Thanks for reading! If you have time, I'd love to hear your thoughts. :)


	2. The Drive (and the Talk)

**A/N** This update came a little later then I hoped (although it didn't take _too_ long). Mostly because I couldn't quite get the next 100 or so words just the way I wanted them and once I finished writing them (still not sure I got them right though), I just didn't have the time to publish. Anyways, here's the second chapter and thank you to anyone who's read/reviewed/followed or favorited this.

 **Mighty Dreamfinder** I find myself wishing that they did go into more detail with certain parts of the show. And seeing how they would have shown Bumblebee dealing with the aftershocks of Megatron's possessing him would have been interesting too. Thanks for the review! :)

 **Purplehood** Yeah... you'd think... I do wonder how the show would have handled it. :) Thanks.

 **Disclaimer** Transformers Prime and all its wonderful characters belongs to Hasbro.

 **Chapter Two**

Miko had instantly made a beeline for the television, taking the steps two at a time and throwing herself down on the couch. She crossed one leg over the other, tossing Raf the video game controller as he and Jack made their way up the stairs and sat down next to her.

Bumblebee had stood behind them, looking on as Miko enthusiastically switched on the TV.

"Bee?" It didn't take long for Rafael to notice his guardian wasn't much into the game. He put the controller on the table, turning to the older boy at the other side of the couch. "Hey, Jack, you wanna play Miko?"

Jack's eyes flickered quickly from Raf to Bumblebee to Miko and finally back to Raf, before he shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" He reached over, plucking the control off the table and leaned back again, this time with both hands clutching the device.

"All right!" Miko leaned forward eagerly. "Let's start this thing!" There was a buzz from the TV as both video game cars roared to life and began trying to knock the other out of the way of victory.

The smaller boy turned away from his peers, both now involved in the game, though Jack slightly less so then Miko, and now faced his guardian.

"You want to go for a drive?" He smiled. "It might help you to, you know," the boy searched for the right word, "unwind?" As soon as the word was out of his mouth, Raf cringed. That hadn't exactly been the word he was looking for. He didn't want Bee to take it the wrong way.

However, Bumblebee either hadn't noticed or wasn't offended, because he was ready enough to agree to a drive.

Getting permission from Ratchet was easier than expected as well. He was much to preoccupied with some re-calibrating the Ground Bridge or some other minor repair to mutter more than a, "Go where you want. Just keep out of trouble, if you think you can manage that." There was more unintelligible grumbling, but Rafael couldn't understand what the medic was saying and figured it would be best if it remained that way.

That was why Raf now found himself alone with his guardian, watching the very few landmarks whiz by as Bumblebee drove on, now specific destination in mind.

"Um…" Raf eloquently attempted to get a conversation going, which shouldn't have been hard, but Bumblebee had never been this quiet when it was just the two of them.

In fact, he was usually the first one talking, pestering Raf with questions about school and anxiously ensuring that there hadn't been any trouble with anyone like Vince.

Although the uncharacteristic silence coming from the scout was easily explainable by the fact that Bumblebee had never been possessed by Megatron before… that he knew of.

"Do you want to tell me what you're thinking about?" he tried. There was a pause. Whether Bee was ignoring him because he was in no mood to talk or just trying to think of a way to phrase his answer, Raf couldn't tell. It was just as likely to be either one.

When there was still no response from the black and yellow sports car, Raf spoke again. "It's…" he swallowed nervously and adjusted his glasses, lowering his voice, "it's Megatron, isn't it? That's what's been bothering you."

Bumblebee hit the brakes all of a sudden so that Raf jerked forward, pressing into the seat belt, when the car finally stopped.

Readjusting his glasses, which had become a little crooked, Raf straightened himself up and cast a puzzled glance at the dashboard. "Bee? You okay?"

/He almost hurt you./

Raf's eyes widened when Bumblebee finally spoke. "Bee…" he said quietly, but Bumblebee wasn't finished.

/He almost hurt you,/ Bumblebee repeated, more vehemently this time. /He was inside my head and he could have hurt you or Jack or Miko or Arcee or anyone else. He was inside my head. _I_ could have hurt you. He might have learned where the base is located. He could have learned anything. And all because I wasn't smart enough to keep him from getting inside my head in the first place!/

"Bumblebee." Raf placed his hand on the steering wheel to offer whatever comfort he could. "You didn't let him."

/I couldn't have stopped him./ Bumblebee remembered Tyger Pax. He couldn't have stopped Megatron then either.

Just like he hadn't been able to stop him this time.

The horrifying truth was that Megatron was back in his own body and it was because of him. Megatron had used him.

"That's not true," Raf protested. He swallowed. "Whatever else Megatron tried to do while he was inside your head, I know he would never have been able to force you to hurt any of us. You're too much of an Autobot for that." Raf remembered that Bumblebee _had_ knocked Ratchet aside while under Megatron's control, but that hadn't really _hurt_ the medic.

Raf hoped Bumblebee wasn't remembering the same thing and that the memory wasn't blowing a hole in his case.

He remembered seeing the alien, dark look in Bumblebee's normally bright, playful optics while his guardian was being possessed and he remembered the fear he had felt upon seeing it. The fear had been mostly for Bumblebee's safety. Even then, he hadn't truly believed Bumblebee would let Megatron hurt him… and he'd been right. Bumblebee had fought against the Decepticon's control long enough to keep him from bringing any harm to his human charge.

"Megatron might be back in his body, but," he paused, not out of hesitation, but so that Bee could sense how serious he was, "I don't think anyone can blame you for that. It wasn't your fault."

/He was in my head./ Bumblebee whirred, the sound quieter and more subdued then before.

It was when Raf heard this new sentence that he realized how deeply his partner had been affected. Even though one couldn't really say there were tones in Bumblebee's speech, Raf had become pretty good in understanding what sort of mood his guardian was in.

He was able to detect the underlying feeling of horror Bumblebee had when he "said" those five words. He couldn't say he blamed him.

Raf had only seen the Decepticon leader a few times, one of those times being when he and Ratchet had followed the possessed scout onto the Decepticons' warship in time to see the warlord be returned to his own body. That was enough to know that Megatron was a truly terrifying being.

What had it been like to be stuck with someone like that inside your head? Controlling your very self? Doing who knew what else?

Who knew what Bumblebee had undergone?

He didn't want to try imagining it.

Suddenly, his mouth felt very dry. "I know," he whispered. It hurt to hear Bee sound so vulnerable, almost sounding like Raf had after a particularly bad day at Kindergarten and he needed either his mother or Pilar to talk to.

There was silence. Raf didn't want to speak, feeling as if interrupting this new silence would be a bad thing, but then he did.

"Bumblebee…" he began hesitantly, "none of what Megatron did is your fault." Raf knew the scout was listening to him, albeit more quietly then was normal, but he had know way of knowing if Bee actually believed what he was saying. He hoped he was. "There's a reason Megatron's the one leading the Decepticons. Bringing him down isn't something that's going to be easy and no one could have expected you to do it by yourself," Raf continued, searching for the right words. "I-I don't know what happened when Megatron was inside your head… but one day, the Autobots are going to take him down and when that happens, he's going to have to pay for everything he's done."

Raf was not one with any tendencies towards violence, but at that moment, he wished he could do anything in order to bring down the warlord. If he thought it was possible, he would probably do it himself.

He supposed, no, he _knew_ , Bumblebee would have felt the same way.

It was part of what made them so close; they looked out for one another.

Bumblebee whirred slowly and Raf would have been able to understand the "thank you" even if everything else Bee said to him was a mystery.

His hand touched the steering wheel. "Everything's going to get better, Bee. I promise."


End file.
